SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

MacDONALD HELPS HUSKIES
Saint John Sea Dogs alumnus David MacDonald helped the Saint Mary’s Huskies win the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s hockey title last night in Thunder Bay. The Huskies defeated the Alberta Golden Bears 3-2 in overtime to win the school’s first ever national championship.

The former Sea Dogs captain joins goaltender Travis Fullerton as alumni who have won the trophy.

The tournament will be held in Fredericton next year.

THE NEXT VICTIM
The Sea Dogs are still waiting to see who they will play in the next round of the 2010 Presidents Cup Playoffs. The team does know that game one will be held on Friday at Harbour Station at 7:30. Game two goes Saturday at 7:00 pm in Saint John as well.

The Dogs will know their dance partner on Tuesday night following two game sevens. If Chicoutimi manages to defeat Rimouski, Richard Martel and the Sagueneens will be in town this weekend. If Rimouski wins, the Dogs will play the winner of the Montreal vs Gatineau game.

Of note, Saint John has never won a game at Verdun Auditorium against the team formerly-known-as-the-Fog Devils.

ROUND TWO TICKETS AVAILABLE
PRESS RELEASE
The Sea Dogs will open their second round series on Friday, April 2 (puck drop – 7:30pm) at Harbour Station, with Game 2 of the best-of-seven showdown set to take place the following evening at 7pm. Tickets to both of these matchups versus a to-be-determined opponent are on sale now. They can be bought by going to the Harbour Station website or the box office during the week.

THE NEXT WAVE
An article on NHL.com took at look at some of the highly touted Russian prospects for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. Forward Stanislav Galiev got the mention.

"He can play a more physical game because he played in the USHL (with the Indiana Ice) last year, so he's used to that," Bordeleau said. "Galiev is a hard worker and has played very well and is a great skater. He plays on a very good team (with much older linemates in Mike Hoffman and Nick Petersen) and sometimes these older guys don't seem to give him the puck as much as he would want. Still, he's highly rated for us."

"Galiev is very explosive and highly skilled," said western scout Jack Barzee, who watched Galiev in the United States Hockey League last season. "He's a threat every time he's on the ice to score a big goal. Right now though, it's open for debate where he'll go in the draft. I projected him last year as a top guy coming out of the USHL."

DANCIN’ MACHINE
A Facebook page has been created for our boy Brendan McNeil - also known as the dancing machine that sits in section “t.” The page already had 109 fans at the time of this publication.

To join the group click HERE.

Brendan has become quite a star at Harbour Station after only two appearances. He could be seen dancing and waving his rally towel during every stoppage in play. He even had the entire "ScotiaZone" up on their feet and “getting funky,” as the kids say.

AMYOT GOING FOR IT
Former Sea Dog defenseman and current Halifax Moosehead Pascal Amyot is trying to win the Marcel Robert Trophy as the league’s top scholastic player.

Click HERE to view a video of his interview.

AT LEAST WE ARE CONSISTENT
If there was an award for most consistent playoff attendance, the Sea Dogs would have the trophy in the bag. Here are the playoff attendance numbers so far:

Game one: 4,218
Game two: 4,232
Game five: 4,252

Through three post-season games, Saint John is averaging 4,234 fans at the 6,297 seat Harbour Station. Through 68 regular season games, the Port City averaged 4,141 fans.

Many are not pleased with attendance so far, but round one rarely draws huge numbers. In 2008, the team’s first ever playoff run, Saint John averaged 5,666 fans in their first three playoff games. The first sell-out did not come until game two of the second round.

MONCTON MESS-UP
Many news sources have stated over the past week that Saint John will play Moncton in the next round of the playoffs. Obviously, that is not true.

It was an honest mistake though, as the QMJHL playoff tree would lead many to believe that the two foes would meet in the next round.

Dogs President Wayne Long tells CHSJ News, for most fans, the dream match-up is Saint John taking on the Wildcats.

Long adds the team isn't looking any further ahead than each series it is playing.

PARTY TIME
It sneaks up on us every year, but the QMJHL’s Golden Puck Awards Gala goes this Wednesday evening in Montreal.

Superstar sniper Mike Hoffman is up for two trophies (Most Valuable Player & Sportsman of the Year), as is freshman forward Stanislav Galiev (Rookie of the Year & Top Professional Prospect). Import winger Tomas Jurco is also up for Rookie of the Year, while bench boss Gerard Gallant has been short-listed for the league’s Coach of the Year Award.

Station Nation is hoping to have our predictions up by Wednesday.

OT LOSS BROKE THE CAMELS BACK
The Prince Edward Island Rocket believe that it was the game three overtime loss in Charlottetown that ultimately did them in against Saint John.

"I think that was the dagger that killed us,'' said Michael Stinziani to the Telegraph-Journal. "It was a great series, we battled.''

From Guardian columnist Fred MacDonald Saturday:

Wednesday night’s heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss was one of the best games of the year with lots of hitting and great goaltending but an unfortunate outcome for the local team.

We almost lost yet another bet another on Twitter during that game as well.